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Queens Catholic HS principals unite for call to stop gun violence
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com / @robbpoz
Th e principals of 18 Catholic high
schools in Brooklyn and Queens signed
a joint open letter calling on elected offi -
cials to take “long overdue” action to prevent
GOP blocks Queens senator’s bill for enhanced gun background checks
BY ANGELA MATUA
amatua@qns.com / @angelamatua
A group of bills aimed at enhancing gun
safety in New York were shot down in the
state Senate on Feb. 28 — including an
Astoria senator’s bill to extend the time
aft er which a fi rearm can be obtained
without a background check.
New York Legislators for Gun Violence
Prevention, a coalition of elected offi -
cials, announced that they would push
for the passage of 12 bills on Feb. 27 to
prevent gun violence in the state. Senate
Democrats forced the vote by introducing
four of the 12 bills as hostile amendments.
Th is process tacked on the bills to
unrelated pieces of legislation already up
for a vote.
Most of the bills have already been
introduced but lawmakers believed that
the Parkland, FL, shooting that left 17
dead would help their case.
Th e package would ban bump stocks,
make it a crime to fail to securely store
a weapon, prohibits people convicted of
certain domestic violence charges from
purchasing or possessing a gun and more.
On Feb. 28, Republican lawmakers
voted against the four pieces of legislation
in the package including the
Eff ective Background Checks Act, sponsored
by state Senator Michael Gianaris,
who represents Astoria, Long Island
City, Sunnyside, Woodside, parts of
Ridgewood and Woodhaven.
Currently, the deadline to conduct a
background check on a person interested
in purchasing a gun is three days. If law
enforcement has not conducted a background
check before the deadline, the seller
can still provide the fi rearm to the buyer.
Th e bill would extend the deadline to 10
days, giving law enforcement additional
time to meet the deadline. It would also
require gunsmiths and licensed fi rearms
businesses to report to authorities a person
who later fails a background check
aft er purchasing a gun and requires that
employees at these establishments to also
go through background checks.
“More responsible gun laws will make
our communities safer, keep fi rearms
away from dangerous people and ensure
preventable tragedies do not happen. I
am appalled Senate Republicans voted
down the common sense measures we
proposed today, including my Enhanced
Background Checks Act,” Gianaris said.
“Senate Republicans’ twisted values put
the NRA fi rst and schoolchildren last.
Senate Democrats will not stop fi ghting
for a safer future for New York families.
Bills to ban bump stocks, allow courts
to prohibit certain people deemed dangerous
to themselves or others from purchasing
or possessing fi rearms and establish
a violence research institute to study
gun violence as a public health issue were
also shot down.
According to a spokesperson for
Gianaris along with 29 members of the
Democratic Party and the Independent
Democratic Conference voted for the
proposals. It is not clear how Simcha
Felder, a Democrat who caucuses with
Republicans, voted.
State Senate Majority Leader John F.
Flanagan, a Republican from Long Island,
released a statement on Feb. 28 saying
that the “senseless violence” in schools is
“unacceptable and must be stopped.”
Flanagan’s statement noted that did not
expressly mention guns or any measures
that would curb gun violence.
“Every responsible option is on the
table, and wherever we think we can make
a diff erence, we will act,” he said. “Schools
must be safe havens, where students can
learn and teachers can teach. In New
York, they will be.”
In response to the most recent shooting,
on March 5, Senate Republicans passed a
“comprehensive school safety plan” that
will include additional security cameras,
cops or armed resources offi cers, panic
buttons and active shooter drills. He also
called for greater coordination between
law enforcement and a “much stronger
response” to mental health issues.
In 2013, the New York State Legislature
passed the New York Secure Ammunition
and Firearms Enforcement Act in
response to the Sandy Hook shooting.
It banned certain assault-style weapons,
high-capacity magazines, created a universal
background check provision and
more.
a repeat of the deadly school shooting
in Parkland, FL, last month.
In the letter that Th e Courier received
on March 1, the 18 principals expressed
sympathies to the faculty, staff , parents
and students of Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School, where 17 people
were slaughtered on Feb. 14. Th e massacre
— in which a former student, carrying
a semi-automatic rifl e, shot teenagers
and the adults who tried to protect
them — reignited a national debate over
gun control.
“We stand in support of the Parkland,
FL survivors as they draw strength in
knowing that their eff orts to eff ect necessary
change are heard,” the letter states.
“We call on our elected leaders to do
everything necessary to help us protect
students against senseless acts such as the
one in Florida and too many others across
the country.”
Among the signees representing
Queens Catholic high schools were
Darius Penikas of Archbishop Molloy
High School in Briarwood; Richie Diaz
of Cathedral Preparatory School and
Seminary in Elmhurst; Geri Martinez of
Christ the King High School in Middle
Village; Edward Burns of Holy Cross High
School in Flushing; James Castrataro of
Msgr. McClancy Memorial High School
in East Elmhurst; Susan Nicoletti of St.
Agnes Academic High School in College
Point; Patrick McLaughlin of St. Francis
Preparatory School in Fresh Meadows;
William Higgins of St. John’s Preparatory
School in Astoria; and Sr. Kathleen
McKinney of Th e Mary Louis Academy
in Jamaica Estates.
In the weeks following the Parkland
massacre, Marjory Stoneman Douglas
students have led a nationwide campaign
calling on elected offi cials to increase gun
regulations in order to prevent another
mass shooting from happening. While
some have called for a new assault weapons
ban and laws that would prevent individuals
with criminal records or mental
health issues from buying fi rearms, others
have suggested more defensive measures.
Th e debate spurred companies to break
ties with the National Rifl e Association
— which has repeatedly dismissed
calls for new gun regulations — and
prompted retailers such as Walmart and
Dick’s Sporting Goods to impose new
age restrictions on fi rearm sales (Dick’s
Sporting Goods also announced it would
stop selling assault weapons).
Th e joint letter from Brooklyn and
Queens principals seemed to allude to
President Donald Trump’s suggestion
that teachers be allowed to carry fi rearms
to potentially stop an active shooter.
“As principals, we are responsible for
carrying out the mission of our schools,
the education of our students and the
safety and security of the adolescents in
our care,” the letter continued. “As educators,
we are facing a world where we
are increasingly called upon to become
the last line of defense against unspeakable
horrors.”
Noting that their current students “are
the leaders and policy makers of tomorrow,”
they stressed the importance of
standing “as examples to them and the
morality, justice and peace which we expect
them to go forth and spread in the world.”
“Collectively, we as Catholic educators
— as Americans — know that these
attacks must stop, and the time for action
on all levels is long overdue,” the letter
concluded. “We unite in one voice to call
upon our elected offi cials to eff ect nothing
less than meaningful, proactive change.”
Photo via Wikimedia Commons
Photo courtesy of Twitter/@SenGianaris
A group of bills aimed at addressing gun violence were shot down in the state Senate.